GONG Tao
PhD (The Chinese University of Hong Kong);
B.S. & M.S. (Tianjin University);
Supervisor: Prof. William S-Y Wang
Language Engineering Laboratory (LEL) & DSP & Speech Technology Laboratory
Office: Rm. 310A, Ho Sin Hang Engineering Building
Mailing address:
Department of Electronic Engineering,
The Chinese University of Hong Kong,
Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong
Email: tgong@ee.cuhk.edu.hk; Office: (852) 2609 8250; Fax: (852) 2603 6868
Biography (C.V.):
I obtained my B.Sc and M.Sc in Sep. 2000 and Mar. 2003 respectively, in Dept. of EE, Tianjin University. The research topic then was quite engineering, designing motion estimation algorithms. During my graduate study in Tianjin, I have independently proposed three efficient motion estimation algorithms: the Pseudo-diamond Search algorithm that modifies the traditional Diamond Search method by greatly reducing the searching points; the Wavelet Transform (WT) based block matching algorithm that develops a searching scenario in WT domain; the Genetic Algorithm (GA) based block matching algorithm that efficiently introduces GA to the motion estimation. All these algorithms were published by me in the leading signal processing journals in China. In Mar. 2003, I moved to LEL in City University of Hong Kong, and began my research in evolutionary linguistics. Under the supervision of Prof. William S-Y. Wang, an eminent linguist in the world, I have greatly strengthened both the linguistic knowledge and simulation skills within one year's study. In Sep. 2004, together with my supervisor, I moved to the DSP and Speech Technology Laboratory in The Chinese University of Hong Kong to continue my research and eventually got my PhD degree in 2007.
My current research, evolutionary linguistics and computational simulation. I am interested in some central questions concerning language evolution, including whether syntactic abilities gradually evolved from domain-general abilities, how different linguistic components such as semantics, lexicon and syntax interact with each other during language evolution, and what are the effects of cultural transmission or social structure on language evolution. This research, with a multidisciplinary nature, can both provide insights on human language and its evolution, and assist the research on artificial intelligence and evolutionary computation. It has gradually become a beacon for modern research.
My current topic is to take a "bottom-up" approach to explore the effects of collective behaviors of individual cognitive and communicative actions on the evolution of linguistic components such as semantics and syntax. On the aspect of language emergence, I focus on the relation between the emergence of simple syntax and that of lexical items. Following Emergentism, I assume that language emergence is caused by some domain-general abilities shared among humans and other animals. I have developed a multi-agent model to trace a coevolution of compositionality (in the form of lexical items) and regularity (in the form of constitute word orders). This model suggests that the primitive syntax can be adapted from domain-general abilities and coevolve with the emergence of lexical items. It provides an alternative argumentation against Innatism, which assumes that language is specific to human. The current model is under modification to study other essential topics in linguistics, such as construction grammar and online semantic and syntactic processing. On the aspect of complex systems, I concentrate on the relation between language use and social structure. By manipulating individuals' popularities to participate in communications, my model can trace language emergence under different social structures, and discusses the relation between linguistic communications and the development of social structure. Based on this model, more specific complex networks and related theories will be adopted to further explore the social structure effects on language evolution and vice versa.
Research Interests: Evolutionary linguistics; Multi-agent simulation; Complex Networks Theory;
Everyday Life
Professional Certificates:
Certificate of Teaching Assistants: Center for Learning Enhancement, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Jan. 2005.
Behavioral and Brain Sciences (BBS) Associate: commence from Oct. 2004.
Rank Certificate of Computer Software -- Programmer at Intermediate Level issued by Ministry of Information Industry, PRC., Oct. 1998.
Selected Courses Taken:
Game Theory in Computer Science. Foundations in Linguistics II - Semantics and Syntax. Fuzzy Logic and Intelligent Systems.
Teaching Experiences:
Professional Engineering Practice, ELE2860, Tutor, Sem.2, 2004/05/06.
Basic Circuit Theory, ELE1110A, Tutor, Sem.1, 2004/05/06.
Last updated: August 31, 2007.